Meth Mayhem

In October, police charged a couple with manufacturing methamphetamine in this now-quarantined house in Collierville, Tenn. Meth-contaminated homes can be found in any neighborhood, and only 23 states have specific laws requiring sellers to disclose to buyers any previous meth contamination. The DEA maintains a nationwide database of meth-lab locations, called the Clandestine Laboratory Register, at http://www.justice.gov/dea/clan-lab/index.shtml. (SHNS photo courtesy Kevin McKenzie/The Commercial Appeal)

Methamphetamine can be cooked -- and can cause fiery explosions -- virtually anywhere, including a hotel room, using the "shake-and-bake" or "one-pot" method. Caoimhin P. Connell, a forensic industrial hygienist in Bailey, Colo., did tests on five rooms while staying in a cheap Tulsa, Okla. motel on business. All tested positive for meth, though only one had significant levels. A Scripps Howard News Service analysis of state laws showed just six states require hotels to disclose meth contamination. (SHNS photo courtesy Drug Enforcement Administration)

Special Agent Jeffrey Scott of the DEA says cleaning up a meth lab is labor-intensive and dangerous. Fumes from chemicals used in meth production can cause long-term respiratory problems so cleanup requires hazmat expertise. Neighbors to this Memphis home were evacuated until the narcotics unit could render it safe. (SHNS photo courtesy Lance Murphey/The Commercial Appeal)

Some, but not all of the ingredients required to make meth in a "one-pot" cook include: pseudoephedrine, the key precursor which is found in many cold and allergy medications; ammonium nitrate, found in cold packs; camp fuel, a common naphtha-based fuel used in many lanterns and torches; metal lithium; and salt. It s often said that cooking meth this way, which can be done in less than an hour, is as easy as baking cookies. (SHNS photo courtesy Drug Enforcement Administration)

During a training exercise, Drug Enforcement Administration agents demonstrate the highly combustible nature of cooking meth. Dr. Michael Smock, director of the burn center at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, says he has watched the types of burns change as the popularity of the "one-pot" method of cooking meth has increased. Gone wrong, the process can turn a plastic soda bottle into a flamethrower. One thing, however, has stayed the same: about 15 percent of his patients are injured in meth lab fires and most have no insurance. (SHNS photo courtesy Drug Enforcement Administration)

Mexican cartels, which supply 80 percent of the methamphetamine sold on American streets, smuggle the illegal drug across the U.S. border in a variety of liquids from windshield wiper fluid to soap before being refined in major hubs like Atlanta then shipped to smaller cities. (SHNS photo courtesy Drug Enforcement Administration)

The "one-pot" or "shake-and-bake" process for cooking methamphetamine is highly flammable and can be explosive. Police were called to a fire at this home in Southaven, Miss., in April 2010 after neighbors reported hearing three explosions. (SHNS photo courtesy Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)

Because meth now can be cooked anywhere using the "one-pot" or "shake-and-bake" method, neighbors may be surprised to find they live next to a meth lab. In March 2010, police arrested a man while hazmat technicians worked a suspected meth lab in a gated community in Memphis. (SHNS photo courtesy Karen Pulfer Focht/The Commercial Appeal)